Great Snow Dance
by Sanaryelle
Summary: Tumnus wakes Lucy up in the middle of a winter's night to show her an old Narnian tradition.


_A/N: I'm not a Tumnus/Lucy shipper, but I suppose that my friendship fics could be interpreted as romance, if you like. Lucy is about thirteen in this story._

**The Great Snow Dance**

He really hated to shake her awake, but he knew that she would instantly forgive him. Queen Lucy rubbed at her eyes and let out an enormous yawn. "Mr. Tumnus?" she murmured, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Wha – what time is it?"

"An hour to midnight," whispered the Faun. "I want to show you something. Dress warmly, and I'll meet you outside your door."

Lucy splashed some water from the washbasin onto her face. The shock of icy cold had her fully awake in an instant. Knowing how bitterly cold Narnian winters could be, she pulled on two pairs of thick woollen stockings, a green winter dress, her fur-lined hooded cloak, some woolly mittens, and a pair of boots. She was sweltering inside the bundle of warm clothes, but managed a cheerful smile when she opened the door. Tumnus was waiting in the hall, fidgeting and looking about nervously, for all the world as if he expected someone to come upon them. Lucy wondered where on earth he was going to take her.

"Come along then," he said cheerily, and she took his arm. They trotted down a winding staircase to one of the side entrances, and as they stepped out into a world of moonlit snow, Tumnus popped open his umbrella. Soon the two friends had left the palace gate behind them, and were strolling through drifts of sparkling white.

"All right, where are you taking me?" Lucy finally asked, unable to stay silent any longer. Her breath formed clouds in the chilly night air.

The Faun glanced at her with twinkling eyes. "It is a surprise."

The young Queen pretended to be put out, but she couldn't keep it up for long; Narnia was simply dazzling. Tonight was the first snowfall, and the entire land had been turned into an iced cake. Fat, soft flakes were gliding down through the air, and sound was curiously muffled. Upon entering the forest, Lucy was entranced by icicles hanging like the white fringe on Susan's favourite blue silk sash.

Soon another sound came to her ears through the muted silence of the winter night. It took Lucy some time before she recognized the rhythmic tapping of a drum. Other sounds that sounded like flutes reached them, and she glanced at her friend in surprise. "What is that? Is somebody playing music?" The Faun did not answer, and led her on.

Queen Lucy found herself standing at the edge of a clearing. She could hear the music clearly now, and the melody was sweet and strange. She shivered upon hearing it, but it was a good, exhilarating kind of shiver. And there were figures moving over the snow. Fauns and Dryads were weaving in and out in a series of complicated steps, and around them circled a ring of dwarves, who seemed to be – throwing snowballs?

"The Great Snow Dance," Tumnus whispered to her. "Fauns and Dryads dance it on the first moonlit night with snow on the ground. Snow came late this year, it just turns out that tonight – Christmas Eve – was the first snowfall."

"It's wonderful," breathed Lucy. In rapt silence, she watched the merry light-footed Fauns, the Wood Nymphs with leaves in their flowing hair, the Dwarfs in their best scarlet hoods with golden tassels, all moving in time to the music of the hidden band, without a single dancer missing a step. She thought she could watch them forever.

Queen Lucy stood still for so long, that the snow had stopped falling and she had started to shiver. At last one of the Fauns stumbled, and got hit in the face with a snowball so hard that he fell down. The graceful dance dissolved immediately into laughter, and even the poor Faun had a good laugh once he spat out all of the snow.

"Come along," said Tumnus, and before she knew it he had taken her hand and led her out into the clearing. The Dryads, Fauns, and Dwarfs all greeted Tumnus in a familiar manner, and Lucy felt suddenly shy. When Tumnus introduced her, the dancers all bowed and curtseyed, and the Dwarfs removed their hoods in respect.

"Mind if we join in?" asked Tumnus, ignoring Lucy's sounds of protest.

"Of course!" exclaimed the Narnians, and the willowy Dryads ushered Lucy to the side to teach her the steps to one of the simpler dances. After trying it a few times without music, an auburn-haired Faun motioned with his hand, and the wild tune struck up afresh.

At first, Lucy's movements were hesitant, and she missed a step only to be hit on the shoulder by a large, wet snowball. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" yelped the poor Dwarf who had thrown the snowball. He looked so mortified at having hit his Queen that Lucy couldn't hold back a giggle. Lucy felt much more relaxed afterwards, and joined in the dance with confidence.

The youngest Queen of Narnia danced under the pale, blue moonlight. Stars twinkled in the frosty sky overhead, and the night was cold and still. The wild music was in her ears as she twirled among the Fauns and Dryads, snowballs whistling past but never touching her. She was so caught up in the moment that she did not notice the Talking Beasts emerging from between the trees. Squirrel, Owls, Hedgehogs, Moles, Badgers, and even a sleepy-eyed Bear gathered to watch their Queen dance.

The music started to quicken, but Lucy kept time, her feet almost flying. She grinned at Tumnus as she skipped past, throwing the hood from her head. Her hair came loose from its braid and streamed behind her as she whirled around. Soon, the music was too fast for anyone to follow, and the dancers collapsed into the snow out of breath and laughing.

"The Queen dances well," complimented one of the Dryads with a wide smile as she helped Lucy to her feet. "You must come next year, your majesty."

"I would like that," smiled Lucy. Tumnus took her arm, and the dancers followed the Dwarfs over to a nearby cave, where they were joined by the crowd of Talking Beasts who had been watching. The addition of three Fauns who had provided the music – and their instruments – made the scene even more crowded and cheerful.

A crackling fire in a large stone hearth which chased away the winter chill. As the Dwarfs dragged out frying pans larger than themselves to prepare a hot meal, Lucy pulled off her boots and propped her sodden feet by the fire to dry. One of the Dryads gave her a warm fur blanket, and a Faun fetched her a cup of steaming cocoa.

The musicians, dancers, and Talking Beasts sprawled around the fire on springy beds of heather, chatting gaily. Once the Dwarfs had finished cooking, food was passed from hand to hand. There were sausages, roast potatoes, roast chestnuts, melted cheese on toast, and baked apples with cinnamon and raisins in the core.

It was nearly dawn when Tumnus started up from his seat by the fire. "We must be going back, Queen Lucy," he exclaimed, peering out at the lightening sky. The girl reluctantly bid her new friends farewell, and she and Tumnus hurried arm in arm back to the palace.

"Oh dear, oh dear," muttered the Faun under his breath.

"Mr. Tumnus!" Lucy exclaimed. "Whatever is the matter?"

Her friend turned to her with a positively wretched expression. "Oh, Queen Susan will kill me if she finds out what I did, sneaking you out of the palace at night. And what would your brothers say?"

Lucy hid a smile because she saw that the Faun really was worried. "I won't tell a soul," she promised. The sun was just rising as they slipped through the gate.

They paused at her bedroom door, melted snow making puddles on the floor. "Thank you, Mr. Tumnus," said Lucy seriously, taking the Faun by the hands. "That was wonderful."

Tumnus smiled bashfully and blushed. "Merry Christmas, Queen Lucy."

Lucy smiled. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Tumnus."

_A/N: And Merry Christmas to you all, too. I wish I could spend my Christmas like that, but unfortunately I'm not in Narnia. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas as well._


End file.
